The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), founded in 1919 only a few years after the birth of flight, is the premier trade association representing major aerospace and defense manufacturers and suppliers in the United States.

Based in Arlington, Va., AIA is led by a Board of Governors that meets twice a year and consists of senior representatives of member companies at the c-suite level, and an Executive Committee that meets more frequently. A hallmark of AIA is that it receives its policy guidance from the direct involvement of CEO-level officers of the country's major aerospace and defense companies. The government frequently seeks advice from AIA on issues, and AIA provides a forum for government and industry representatives to exchange views and resolve problems on non-competitive matters related to the aerospace and defense industry.

Today, more than 300 major aerospace and defense companies and their suppliers are members of the association, embodying every high-technology manufacturing segment of the U.S. aerospace and defense industry from commercial aviation and avionics, to manned and unmanned defense systems, to space technologies and satellite communications.

David F. Melcher is the association's chief executive officer and president. AIA member company representatives sit on various councils and committees being guided by AIA staff to formulate industry positions on specific issues for approval by the Executive Committee and the Board of Governors.

The association concentrates on issues covering civil and commercial space, civil aviation, defense and security and international. In addition, the association has offices for Communications, Legislative Affairs, and Membership Services. Other significant assets of AIA include Second to None, the Supplier Management Council, the Team America Rocketry Challenge and the Aerospace Research Center.

With cutting-edge technical capabilities, we are able to work effectively to provide the highest-quality fasteners in many materials. Flexibility, versatility in our manufacturing, along with highly skilled and experienced technicians enable us to manufacture a diversified product line, on a very short lead-time.

AMI provides unparalleled technical expertise for all your fastener needs. AMI has built a solid reputation in the industry for its superior quality, as well as its technical capability to produce the most challenging fastener.

Aerospace Manufacturing Corp (AMI) was founded in 1986. In 1991, AMI moved to its present location, a 27,000 square foot building in Bergen County, with an additional 6,000 square foot state-of-the-art
electro-plating facility.

AMI manufactures a complete line of High Strength Aerospace Fasteners. AMI's product lines include most
commercial standards such as AN, MIL, MS, NA, NAS, as well as custom specials made to print. We manufacture from various materials such as Titanium, Inconel, Waspaloy, A-286, MP35N, as well as Alloy Steel,
H-11, 17-4PH, PH13-8Mo, Stainless 300 and 400 Series, Monel 400 and 500 Series.

AMI also maintains a large inventory of finished products.

AMI is totally dedicated to its customers. ISO qualification is one of the factors that drive AMI to continually strive to maintain its level of excellence.

Army-technology.com brings you up-to-date international news and features on the defence industry, covering military projects, trends, products, services and more in the army sector.

With a team of journalists around the world, army-technology.com, along with sister sites naval-technology.com and airforce-technology.com, is the only business service that focuses on the technologies required by military personnel and companies working in this important field.

When you combine this with one of the most comprehensive and detailed listings of military equipment suppliers, products and services, free white paper downloads and company press releases, you see why army-technology.com is the key point of reference for the defence industry.

From HQ commandants to technical directors, it is easy to see why army-technology.com has become a must-read for more than 250,000 people each month in the industry.

Founded at the dawn of the space age as a subsidiary of Ball Corporation, Ball Aerospace has been a space and technology pioneer for more than half a century. We’ve enabled scientists the world over to make startling discoveries about our universe, and our technologies protect those in harm’s way while giving them a tactical advantage.

ACROSS MISSION SYSTEMS

As both a spacecraft and payload developer, we have a unique understanding of instrument integration and experience delivering end-to-end systems. Our mission systems expertise translates into a proven ability to fulfill the most challenging customer requirements.

MEETING REQUIREMENTS AND MORE

Ball instruments, sensors and spacecraft lead the industry in performance and value. Our advanced data services turn information into knowledge for the defense and intelligence community and our tactical systems support all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces with advanced C2ISR technologies.

DEVELOPING COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGIES

The growing commercial remote-sensing market is using our spacecraft and sensors to deliver the highest resolution Earth imagery currently available. We routinely transition proven systems to our commercial customers, saving them time and development costs. Our proven instruments, spacecraft, advanced technologies and data expertise are delivering new value to our commercial and industrial customers.

(5)BE Aerospace - A distributor of aerospace fasteners and consumables for the commercial business jet and military markets.

B/E Aerospace is the world’s leading manufacturer of aircraft cabin interior products. B/E Aerospace designs, develops, and manufactures a broad range of products for both commercial aircraft and business jets.

(6)CombatAircraft.com - Provides information, drawings, and pictures of the world's military aircraft.

CombatAircraft.com was introduced in 2000 as a modern military aircraft recognition resource. The intended audience, military personnel in the field that may not otherwise have acccess to this information, quickly flourished into a community of enthusiasts, hobbiests, and other professionals in the sphere of military aviation.

Today, CombatAircraft.com is visited daily by more than 150 countries around the world.

If you're new to the site, Welcome! If you're familiar with us, thank you for your loyalty over the years. We hope to continue to meet and exceed your expectations.

General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company. From Gulfstream business jets to submarines to wheeled combat vehicles to communications systems, people around the world depend on our products and services for their safety and security.

Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, General Dynamics is led by Phebe Novakovic. The company employs thousands of people, with locations in 43 countries. At the heart of our company are our employees. We rely on their intimate knowledge of customer requirements and a unique blend of skill and innovation to develop and produce the best possible products and services.

(8)Global Aerospace - A research and development Corporation located in Southern California.

Global Aerospace Corporation (GAC) was founded in 1997 by former NASA/JPL engineers and scientists as a commercial research and development firm. GAC maintains its corporate office in Irwindale, California, where it develops prototypes and works its projects in a 4,300 sq. ft. R&D office/industrial space. These facilities are used to conduct task engineering work, assembly, integration, and testing of hardware as it is prepared for flight, as well as project meetings and report writing. Our facilities meet Federal, California, and Los Angeles County environmental laws and regulations. Our corporate activities include technical analysis and research, aerospace mission and system concept development, aerospace technology research and development, deep ocean systems research and development, and system design, prototyping, and demonstration. Our corporate team is highly qualified with over 400 years of cumulative aerospace experience.

(9)Gulfstream - A company that offers a range of aviation services with locations throughout the US.

All business aviation, regardless of manufacturer, traces its roots to Gulfstream.

Roy Grumman, co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, proposed the development of a purpose-built business aircraft at World War II’s end. He envisioned leveraging the company’s expertise from building robust Grumman warplanes to create scaled-down airliners that could facilitate the post-war economic boom. Thirteen years later, Grumman introduced the Gulfstream I, an aircraft that revolutionized general aviation and positioned the company as an industry high-flyer charting a course for all others to follow.

(10)ILS supply - Offers a website that enable subscribers in the aviation and defense industries to buy and sell parts, equipment and services.

Since 1979, Inventory Locator Service, ® LLC has provided information via its global online marketplace to enable members in the aviation, marine, and defense industries to buy and sell parts, equipment, and services. With over 85 million line items of available inventory, 75,000 customer accesses each day, and 23,000+ members, ILS is the first, largest, and most active business-to-business electronic marketplace serving these industries.

ILS is also focused on expanding its B-to-B electronic marketplace to give customers advanced business tools and services. ILS employs state-of-the-art technology to ensure rapid information distribution along with maximum security and reliability.

ILS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or other characteristics protected by law .

(11)Kaman - Produces aircraft structures and components for commercial and military aircraft.

For the past 70 years Kaman has been recognized for technical breakthroughs and innovative solutions to critical challenges in both Aerospace and Industrial Distribution segments.

Charles Huron Kaman was a 26-year-old engineer in 1945 when he founded Kaman Aircraft Company in the garage of his mother’s West Hartford, Connecticut home with $2,000 invested by two friends. He started the company to demonstrate a new rotor concept he devised to make helicopters stabler and easier to fly. Over the next half-century, Mr. Kaman built the company into a worldwide leader in the aviation industry. Kaman Aircraft, now Kaman Corporation, has become a billion-dollar company.

(12)Lockheed Martin - Specialized in the design, manufacture, development and production of jet fighters and airplanes.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
Lockheed Martin is led by Marillyn A. Hewson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

(13)NASA - A center for atmospheric flight research and operations in Edwards, CA.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958, partially in response to the Soviet Union's launch of the first artificial satellite the previous year. NASA grew out of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), which had been researching flight technology for more than 40 years.

President John F. Kennedy focused NASA and the nation on sending astronauts to the moon by the end of the 1960s. Through the Mercury and Gemini projects, NASA developed the technology and skills it needed for the journey. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of 12 men to walk on the moon, meeting Kennedy's challenge.

Meanwhile, NASA was continuing the aeronautics research pioneered by NACA. It also conducted purely scientific research and worked on developing applications for space technology, combining both pursuits in developing the first weather and communications satellites.

After Apollo, NASA focused on creating a reusable ship to provide regular access to space: the space shuttle. First launched in 1981, the space shuttle flew more than 130 successful missions before being retired in 2011. In 2000, the United States and Russia established permanent human presence in space aboard the International Space Station, a multinational project representing the work of 15 nations.

NASA also has continued its scientific research. In 1997, Mars Pathfinder became the first in a fleet of spacecraft that have been exploring Mars, as we try to determine whether life ever existed there. The Terra, Aqua and Aura Earth Observing System satellites are flagships of a different fleet, this one in Earth orbit, designed to help us understand how our home world is changing. NASA's aeronautics teams are focused on improving aviation, so it meets the explosive growth in global demand for air services.

Throughout its history, NASA has conducted or funded research that has led to numerous improvements to life here on Earth.

(14)Northrop Grumman - A global defense and Technology company specialized in electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding.

About Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.

We hold ourselves to a higher standard, both in the products we deliver and in the way we conduct ourselves throughout the entire customer experience. Because, after all, we are in the business of securing a great deal more than just our place in the market.

Our mission is to be at the forefront of technology and innovation, delivering superior capability in tandem with maximized cost efficiencies. The security solutions we provide help secure freedoms for our nation as well as those of our allies. Squarely meeting our obligations, fiscally and technologically, isn't just a business goal, but a moral imperative. To that end, as we evolve as a company, the responsibility we feel for our country and the citizens and troops we help support grows with us. ​

Since its inception in 1981, Targa Systems has maintained a leadership position in providing Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products, modified COTS products, as well as custom designed solutions to meet customer specific requirements and specifications. Targa Systems has over 25 years of engineering and application expertise in a wide range of military, aerospace, and avionics applications, at your disposal.

Controlled Goods Registration

Targa Systems is registered with the Canadian Government Controlled Goods program. Search their site, Canadian Government Controlled Goods, under Registered Person name: L-3 Communications Canada.

Quality

Targa operates a quality system compliant to NATO Industry Standard AQAP-4; US MIL-I-45208, and to ISO-9000.

Platforms

Targa Systems' solid state data storage products are flying on an impressive number of military, aerospace, avionics and ground vehicle platforms worldwide.

UP Aerospace is a space launch and flight test service provider incoporated in 2004 by founder Jerry Larson to offer world class access to space. We specialize in advanced engineering, launch technology development, and state-of-the-art rapid and low cost launch operations. UP Aerospace has successfully reduced the cost and scheduled time of launching experiments and commercial payloads into space with our in-house developed SpaceLoft launch platform. Our headquarters are located in Denver, Colorado, with launch facilities at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

(17)XCOR Aerospace - Engages in research, development, and production of reusable rocket-powered, horizontal launch vehicles for suborbital, and more.

XCOR Aerospace is a spacecraft and rocket engineering company based in Mojave, California. We are currently in the process of expanding our corporate and R&D headquarters to Midland, Texas. XCOR Aerospace has pioneered rapid development of long-life, reusable rocket engines for human transport applications for more than a decade, and employs around 100 people worldwide.

XCOR Aerospace was created by its four founders in 1999, and originally operated out of our chief engineer’s hangar. It has since evolved into a global team of 100-plus highly-skilled, experienced and talented engineers, marketers and salespeople based in three locations: a 10,375 square foot hangar on the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California, a 60,000 square foot hangar at the Midland International Air & Space Port in Midland, Texas, and the XCOR Space Expeditions sales office in Amsterdam.

Top 17 aerospace and defense companies in USA (United States of America)